Part II: Load Progression As A Principle of Training

Improvement in performance is a direct result of the amount and quality of work the athlete achieves in training. Work load must increase gradually according to each individuals physiological and psychological ability. The following is taken from Dr. Tudor Bompa's book " Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training " pgs. 44-51.

We become more efficient, slowly over time, as our bodies adapt to the physiological stresses of training. From the nervous system to the muscular system training stress helps the athlete cope. The athlete needs time and leadership to achieve this adaption.

Every athlete should follow the one of the 4 principles of overloading. An athlete develops based on the rate and manner of overload that is applied. The following is a brief discription of these 4 principles.

Standard Loading

Maintaining the same load throughout the year is the principle behind this training technique. Improvement increases during the preparatory phase and plateaus during the competitive phase. This ultimately leads to stagnation and no improvement from year to year.

An example of standard loading in power sports is using similar exercises and loads throughout the preparatory phase then decrease this during the competition phase. This results in improvement in the early part of the plan.

Overloading

The overloading principle is based on workload that is increased from the previous capacity continuously over the training plan. The curve of load increments is always going up. This is related to the no pain, no gain principle. Eventually to great of a load is placed on the physiological and psychological systems and burnout occurs. In the short term an athlete will see improvement. There is no emphasis on recovery during the overloading principle.

Step Loading

In step loading there is an increase in the load with eventual time for unloading in the plan. There is a gradual increase within the microcycle, week, which leads to the next microcycle. This usually lasts 4 weeks and is called a macrocycle. The 4th week is the unload week allowing for regeneration. This week is actually the beginning week of the next macrocyle. This step isn't the same magnitude as the the previous low.

There is a relationship to length and height of each step. The longer the length the higher the increase in volume and intensity. A large amount of work will see performance gains.

In endurance sports it is recommended to increase the training load from 3-6% per week. An increase in intensity will need a decrease in volume and vise versa. When training load increases sessions per week, hours per week, drills, routines, miles per week or intensity sessions are some variables that can be changed. An example would be to increase intensity efforts to 2 times per week in the second week of a macrocycle. The third week would have 3 days of intensity. The 4th week would bring you back to the first week of 1 day of intensity. The only difference between the 1st and 4th week is that on the intensity day is shorter with longer rest intervals and the other days of the week are of low intensity. This provides for supercompensation and performance improvement.

The body progresses at a different rate. Flexibility to strength to endurance is the pattern that athletes develop. Flexibilty improves from day to day. Strength improves from week to week. Speed from month to month. Endurance from year to year. The faster the improvement in the following adaptions to the body the heavier the training load should be. Otherwise, the athlete will be unable to catch up with performance.

A program should be increase from year to year by 20-40% depending on the level of competition the athlete engages in. The athlete training for international competition should plan 2-3 training sessions per day. As an example, during the 1960's it was adequate to train 4-6 sessions per week. The increase in training sessions must allow for individual capacity, adaptability, training time, performance level, and the need to continuously alternate different training intensities.

Flat Loading

This type of loading is for more advanced athletes. This is the type of training principle that I use for the preparatory phase before the competition phase. It gets progressively harder from week 1 to week 3. The fourth week is a recovery week that is lower in intensity, volume and demand than the first week of the cycle.

During the general preparatory phase, before the preparatory phase, the scope of training is adaption of the body and mind. This phase adapts the athlete to the preparatory phase where there is an accumalation of as much fitness and technical and tactical skill as possible. This phase is demanding. The next phase is the precompetitive phase. The volume and intensity of training are lower than the preparatory phase. Also, competitions come into play. The more important a competition the less the volume and intensity the preceding week. A regeneration cycle that should allow for supercompensation.

The key to performance improvements and planning is load progression. This stresses the body and mind to a new level. Just as important and maybe more so is the regeneration/recovery weeks. This allows the body and mind to adapt to fatigue and replenishing the energy stores. Loading depends on the level of competition you are at. Novice employs a step load training program while elite athletes require a flat loading pattern.